IIFYM < MFP for maintenance

blue0018

Hi, so I'm a 23 year-old female, 5 ft. 1.5 and 123.5 lb.
I've been on a 1200 cal diet as per MFP recommendations. So far so good.
With IIFYM.com, setting 15% weight loss gives 1223 calories so roughly the same.

I'll be hitting target soon (119 lb), and then will start maintenance. I've seen most people say IIFYM gives a higher calorie allowance than MFP but for me it's the opposite with maintenance. MFP gives 1600, whereas IIFYM is giving about 1500. Why is this? Any advice on what to follow?

(Also—I put "sedentary" on MFP and 0 hours/0 days exercise on IIFYM).

collectingblues

Honestly? It's 100 calories. Try both. If one doesn't work, try the other.

Wheelhouse15

They probably use different calculations for your requirements. There is more than one method of calculating BMR and activities but they give fairly similar results. They are all just estimates and you'll have to monitor and adjust as you go along.

sijomial

The actual numbers are an irrelevance beyond being starting points as they are both just estimates (possibly using different formulae) and you will need to experiment from whichever calorie goal you choose anyway.
Why not just start from your current eating level and rate of weight loss?

The more relevant question is how are you going to account for your exercise and do you like to eat a variable amount daily or a same every day allowance? Depending on that choose the tool that matches your preference for the long term.

I do hope that at 23 years old you aren't completely sedentary and do no exercise!

trigden1991

This is absurd!! Just because a website says you can maintain on more, do you think that really affects where your true maintenance level is?

Pick one, eat the calories, see if you maintain weight. If you do, great. If you lose weight, eat more. If you gain weight, eat less.

pinuplove

They're both just mathematical formulas based on your input. In all likelihood neither one is absolutely correct. Choose one, follow it consistently for a few weeks, note your results, and adjust as needed

jjpptt2

They are both estimates, and one is just as likely to be correct as the other, especially considering how insignificant the difference is between them. Pick one, go with it for 4-6 weeks, evaluate, then make small changes as necessary.

travelher

when I started maintenance, I gradually added 100 calories/week until I got to my sweet spot, which is really a range. For me, I'll maintain between 1400-1600ish calories

blue0018

sijomial wrote: »

The actual numbers are an irrelevance beyond being starting points as they are both just estimates (possibly using different formulae) and you will need to experiment from whichever calorie goal you choose anyway.
Why not just start from your current eating level and rate of weight loss?

The more relevant question is how are you going to account for your exercise and do you like to eat a variable amount daily or a same every day allowance? Depending on that choose the tool that matches your preference for the long term.

I do hope that at 23 years old you aren't completely sedentary and do no exercise!

ha yeah I walk a lot but put 0/0 for comparison. Thanks for this!

blue0018

Thanks for the replies everyone new to this and didn't want to put back the weight I just lost.